I'm a few years from retiring and I'm interested how others plan for time in retirement - assuming that pension/ family/ finances are in place. I was talking with someone recently retired who mentioned how it can be difficult to fill some hours in a day. Although I have plenty hobbies and interests I suspect that I probably focus too much at work at the minute. I didn't ever expect to ask this question but how do people plan for retirement?
Here's advice from somebody who took all of ten minutes to settle into retirement:-
1. (a) Forget about work.(b) Forget about your former colleagues. (c) Concentrate on who you are and all those people you like and those who like you. The rat-race should be a distant memory each morning you wake.
2. If you have a hobby like golf, go out and play it and don't put the golf clubs into your car and spend the whole day in the golf club bar only.
3. Do not become a fulltime unpaid childminder for your grandchildren.
4. Clean up your garden and keep it clean. If you like gardening keep at it.
5. Allow time to your spouse on which she/he has got used to.
6. Take exercise e.g walking, jogging, weight training, swimming, cycling. Allow time each day for exercise.
7. Read daily quality newspaper even online.
8. Read what you enjoy and perhaps something that is taxing to your mind.
9. Your concentration can fail given time. So enjoy one or two quiz programmes on television and judge yourself against the contestants and the programme e.g. my general knowledge on Mastermind is about the same as contestants which I've built up over 3 years. I think I'd be pretty good on the Final Chase of The Chase too. [You've got to be honest with yourself and answer the questions before the choice is given or before the participants answer].
10. You have a car use it when the restrictions are lifted to travel around Ireland. Senior Deals are available in many hotels.
11. Get your Free Travel Card and get your Free Travel Card for Northern Ireland at the same time. Good hotel deals are more available in Belfast.
Leave the car at home and travel the length and breadth of the country North and Republic.
12. Do not sit around waiting for something to happen - Make it happen.
13. Spend 3/6 months in Spain, Portugal or Italy or Greece. It's cheaper than you think especially November to April and the cost of living is cheaper there too and you have nearly continuous sunshine. Learning a language is a good project too.
14. Don't spend your day in front of the television and when you watch television pick your programmes in advance. Don't get trapped into listening to Liveline every day either. I bet Joe Duffy will have difficulty settling into retirement, but I wish him only the best.
15. An Apprentice Retiree can fall into traps quite easily, but the veteran retiree is on his guard immediately when he hears "Hey Dad . . . "
16. And the classic . . . "You now have time to give something back . . . " If anybody says this to you lose him immediately; you heard it first from me.
I've spent five minutes posting the above without breaking sweat. If I think of something later I'll post that too.